1.Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an at least partially reinforced or impervious shoe adapted for walking or hiking. More particularly, the invention is directed to an article of footwear, such as an article of footwear and a method of manufacturing same.
2. Description of Background and Relevant Information
Various methods are known for making a shoe impervious. They include, for example, providing an inner liner made of a breathable and impervious material; but this construction is costly because the breathable and impervious material is very expensive and all the seams must be made impervious by sealing joints added by gluing.
Another method is to immerse the finished boot into a latex or PVC bath, up to the desired level of imperviousness. This construction is also expensive to implement, because it requires a very long processing time and costly investments.
In the context of the invention, “impervious” means resistant to water penetration; one may wish this resistance to be more or less substantial depending on the use intended for the shoe.
For hiking or walking shoes, it is also desired that the upper be reinforced against substantial abrasion effects which are caused, for example, by the presence of stones, rocks, etc. This is true even if the upper is made out of a thick and presumably resistant material such as leather, or reinforced textile known by the commercial name “Cordura.”
For lighter shoes for sports, leisure, or racing in the mountains, which are made of ventilated materials, this problem of resistance to abrasion is even more crucial. The shoes are used, for example, for racing in the mountains during sporting events called “raids,” and are designed primarily to enable a good aeration/ventilation of the foot. They are generally made out of ventilated materials of the mesh/net type commonly called “mesh” for a good ventilation.
However, materials of this type are particularly fragile and not resistant to wear due, in particular, to abrasion. These materials also have the disadvantage of being very flexible and of inadequately retaining the foot.
Therefore, for this type of shoe using mesh-type materials, one seeks to reinforce the strength and resistance to wear/abrasion.
For these same materials, one also seeks to improve the resistance to the penetration of water or dirt (stones, dust, sand, etc.), without negatively affecting the breathability/ventilation of the shoe.
Finally, one desires to reinforce the shoes, while making it possible to preserve, or even to improve the aesthetic aspect thereof, which is not the case with the known sealing methods where the shoe is immersed in a latex of PVC bath, and, as a result, has a straight and unaesthetic parting line between the reinforcing material and the remainder of the upper.